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Do You Have Bad Oral Habits

People have all kinds of habits. These habits are not always bad, but sometimes, they are. Sometimes, a person will have oral habits that produce deleterious effects on oral health, so they need to be addressed.

At best, these habits need to be corrected, when the individual is young and can still be retrained. So if you notice any of these habits on your child, you need to stand guard.

Using the teeth as a tool. Why do people think their teeth are strong enough to act as kitchen or hardware tools? The teeth are strong and they are composed of hard tissues, but they are in no way ever going to match to the strength of actual tools. So refrain from using them as bottle openers, knives, kitchen shears, pliers and so forth. Your teeth were made so you can smile, eat and speak. You shouldn’t subject it to any other force.

Thumb sucking.Thumb sucking is a habit that young individuals form in order to sooth themselves. Babies, learn to suck their thumbs in the absence of milk, to self-soothe and many of them bring this habit with them as they age. While it has good benefits for a child, you cannot say the same for teeth and jaw development because the constant force subjected may cause the elongation and protrusion of the teeth and jaws.

Biting on pencils. Biting on pencils is common to students, as a relief mechanism for nervousness and anxiety. They bite on pencils and pens, unconsciously, and this ugly habit causes fractures and cracks on the teeth.

Biting on nails. Nail biting is a common habit that individuals develop at a young age. Like biting on pencils and pens, it is representative of anxiety in varying degrees. It is as damaging and the incisors are often found with nicks, cracks and fractures on the edges.

Tongue thrusting. As this action is related to thumb sucking, it produces the same damaging effects. The constant pushing of the tongue on the back surfaces of the teeth pushes it forward, almost loosening it in place.

Eating ice. Believe it or not, some people are quite fond of biting on ice. Apart from it being very hard, the cold renders the tissues weak, so they easily fracture when put under pressure.